Gasoline Prices Increase Again this Week

RIVERSIDE — Gasoline prices in Riverside experienced an increase of 1.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.78 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 481 stations in Riverside. This compares with the national average that has fallen 2.6 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.88 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Average gasoline prices on Oct. 15 in Riverside have ranged widely over the last five years with an increase here and there: $2.97 per gallon in 2017, $2.75 per gallon in 2016, $2.92 per gallon in 2015, $3.54 per gallon in 2014 and $3.74 per gallon in 2013.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were 81.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 23.0 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average saw an increase of 2.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 42.5 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Areas near Riverside and their current gas price climate:

San Bernardino — $3.76 per gallon, an increase of 1.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.75 per gallon.

Orange County — $3.82 per gallon, down 1.1 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.83 per gallon.

Los Angeles — $3.87 per gallon, unchanged from last week’s $3.87 per gallon.

“The last week has seen a flurry of events to keep an eye on, while the recent drop in oil prices materialized at pumps across the country, but no where have the declines been as large as Great Lakes states,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a prepared statement. “Great Lakes states have wreaked havoc on the national average, sending it down considerably as stations there have passed along the recent drop in oil prices relatively quickly. However, while Great Lakes motorists were seeing lower prices, average prices along the West Coast, mainly in Washington and Oregon, have started to increase after a natural gas pipeline explosion last week pushed some refineries to close.

In addition, events in Saudi Arabia bear monitoring as the West claims the Kingdom is behind the disappearance of a Washington Post journalist and could rile tensions between the world’s largest oil consumer and one of the world’s largest oil producers, DeHaan said.

“I believe gas prices in most areas East of the Rockies will drift lower, but keep an eye out on these new developments,” DeHaan said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen autumn so rife with possible volatility at the pump as we’re seeing now.”

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Cindy Uken is a respected, award-winning journalist who is persistent in getting the details of a news story so readers will be better informed about political, healthcare and veteran news. She is a veteran journalist who brings a fresh perspective to local online political news. As the CEO of Uken Report, she is driven by providing an alternative digital platform for the latest breaking online news throughout the Coachella Valley.